FORT MYERS - U.S. Magistrate Douglas Frazier recommended the North Naples woman's plea be rejected, ruling that there must be proof of a criminal act, not just negligence.

"At most, she did not know whether it was false or not," Frazier wrote in his five-page recommendation to U.S. District Judge John Steele on Wednesday. "She only knew that she should have independently verified the information and failed to do so."

A former Wachovia bank branch manager who admitted she was negligent for not verifying bank deposits on a trusted customer's mortgage application form has pleaded guilty for a second time.

But the plea in 44-year-old Debra Landberg's mortgage fraud case wasn't accepted again this week after a magistrate found that although she'd signed a plea agreement admitting she was guilty of a crime, her statements in court were not the same facts she'd admitted to. Instead, they showed she was negligent, that her oral statements didn't match her written plea.

U.S. Magistrate Douglas Frazier recommended the North Naples woman's plea be rejected, ruling that there must be proof of a criminal act, that she acted "willfully" and "with knowledge" to influence a bank when she signed a verification of deposits on June 6, 2006. It enabled general contractor Scott Fawcett, 29, of East Naples, to obtain a $388,000 mortgage, one of several he and his wife received.

"At most, she did not know whether it was false or not," Frazier wrote in his five-page recommendation to U.S. District Judge John Steele on Wednesday. "She only knew that she should have independently verified the information and failed to do so."

The rejection means that if Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Molloy and defense attorneys John Cardillo and Yale Freeman don't appeal the recommendation within 14 days, Steele will schedule a status conference and trial date.

The policy of the U.S. Attorney's Office is to not comment until after sentencing. Cardillo also declined comment.

The rejection is the latest chapter in a case that began June 4, 2009, when Landberg, a 22-year bank employee, was questioned by FBI agents. On Feb. 2, when she pleaded guilty to providing a false verification of deposits, she sobbed at times during questioning by Frazier. When he said he'd hold off on his decision to accept her plea, she broke down, crying and shaking uncontrollably as she left with her husband, Lawrence, who tried to console her.

The mother of two, who now works for an insurance company, would have to give up that job if convicted of the financial crime. She faced a maximum of 30 years in prison, but the plea deal was for probation.

During the plea hearing, it quickly became apparent it was heading where it ended Oct. 4, when Steele rejected her plea for the same reason. As she had before, Landberg repeatedly said she hadn't done her "due diligence" by not verifying amounts Fawcett said were in his bank accounts.

"I see the error in what I did in assuming and taking that information as fact," Landberg said.

Frazier later asked her lawyer if he thought her testimony was sufficient for a guilty plea and Freeman said she hadn't done her due diligence by not verifying Fawcett's account balances. Frazier asked Landberg again to tell him if she knew the funds were there, calling Freeman's testimony "a very eloquent recitation of the facts."

Landberg replied: "No. I did not know for a fact that those funds were in there ... even by signing that form I stated they were."

Frazier later said: "We're where we were the last time on this road, which is the intent necessary."

Landberg, who managed the branch bank at Airport-Pulling and Radio roads, ended up getting fired during the FBI investigation. She and Fawcett were among more than 200 charged in a statewide mortgage fraud probe that targeted homeowners, brokers, bankers, police officers and three Lee County lawyers.

The couple obtained $3.349 million in loans for six homes that were foreclosed on in Naples Park, Golden Gate, Victoria Park in North Naples, Golden Gate Estates, Royal Harbor in Naples and Punta Gorda. Two mortgage applications were in Scott Fawcett's name, three were in his wife's name, and one was in both their names.

Scott Fawcett is serving nearly 3½ years in a federal prison for falsifying a mortgage application and receiving $3.349 million in loans. The indictment says he said his combined bank deposits totaled $353,209.09. Court records show he really only had $970.75.

Fawcett is serving nearly 3½ years in a federal prison for falsifying a mortgage application and receiving $3.349 million in loans; prosecutors agreed not to charge his then-pregnant wife, Heather, 28, a model. At Fawcett's sentencing in March, Steele said Fawcett's wife should have been standing with him as a defendant.

His restitution agreement says he must repay Bank United $789,187.73 and $390,723.52 to JPMorganChase.

At Landberg's first plea hearing, Molloy told Steele the government had concerns about whether she knew she was committing a crime and there was no evidence she'd received money.

"The only motivation for this was to keep a valued customer happy at the bank," Molloy said.

Since then, Landberg, who faced a three-count indictment, was reindicted by a grand jury in January on the one charge she'd pleaded to. Molloy told the magistrate the indictment was "virtually identical" and they'd just "cleaned up" the indictment's language.

The prosecutor was required to prove three elements, including that the bank was insured by the FDIC. The other two, stumbling blocks during the first plea, were changed slightly.

In the first indictment, prosecutors had to prove that by failing to perform due diligence, or as a result of indifference, Landberg made a false statement or report to the financial institution. The second indictment removed the due diligence and indifference.

The earlier indictment also required Molloy to prove that without checking the accuracy of the deposits or verifying them, Landberg made a statement or report that proved to be false, willfully and with intent to influence a financial institution to provide a loan. The second indictment removed the checking and verifying.

"The knowledge of amount is not an element," Molloy told Frazier.

The indictment says the Fawcetts said their combined bank deposits totaled $353,209.09. Court records show they really only had $970.75.

After Landberg said she hadn't even suspected Fawcett's information wasn't accurate, Frazier found there wasn't a sufficient factual basis to accept her plea. He also noted the government's factual basis "sheds no light."

Last year, defense attorneys submitted a sentencing memorandum that said Landberg had been duped and used by the Fawcetts and blaming the lenders and closing agent for not verifying the accounts. Numerous co-workers submitted letters praising Landberg's honesty.